Friday, March 29, 2013

Dhindo or Dhido
(pronounced dhee-dough) sounds like some exotic dish from Nepal, but it is
simply a thick porridge or mush, made by cooking stone-ground
cornmeal (ghatta maa pidheko makai ko pitho), millet flour (kodo ko
pitho) or buckwheat flour (phaapar ko pitho) with salt and water.Dhindo has been a staple food of
most rural and middle mountain-area people of Nepal, especially in
dry areas where rice or wheat corps are difficult to grow. This
hearty and filling dish is a nutrient powerhouse and is often eaten with a dab
of homemade butter or clarified butter (nauni, gheu), curried
vegetables (jhol tarkaari), or with various pickles, buttermilk or
yogurt. Gundruk-Dhindo is the most common combination served in
farming communities. Gundruk is a fermented and preserved
leafy vegetable that is used to prepare a soup like dish that is
known as gundruk ko jhol. Traditional dhindo meals are served on typical Nepali round plates called thaal made of stainless steel or
brass with small bowls. Nepalese people who do hard physical labor consume enormous amounts of this nutritious meal. It is very common to see a large mounds of
Dindo served in the middle of thaal accompanied by side
dishes in small portions. It is eaten with the right hand by first
scooping up or tearing small bite-size pieces of dhindo with your
fingers, then dipping or rolling into the sauce before you put in
your mouth. It is a Nepali tradition to always wash hands prior to
eating and after the meal. Dhindo should be eaten steaming hot, right
after cooking since it hardens once it cools. Traditionally dhindo is cooked
in a Nepali iron pan with long handle and rounded bottom, called a
taapke, which has an excellent heat distribution qualities. It is
typically stirred with a large iron spoon with a long handle (panyu).

As a humble origin, Dhindo meal were rarely found in
fancy Nepali restaurants of Kathmandu, but these days, in many modest
neighborhood restaurants, dhido is being introduced as most authentic and traditional
Nepali meal.

A
very flavorful and healthy meal from rural part of Nepal and the dhindo is made out of millet flour (kodo ko pitho). Served with dhindo is rich and flavorful chicken curry cooked with ginger-garlic and fresh green chilies, salad-like gundruk dish (saadheko gundruk), tiny bits of red chili sauce, and sauteed onions. For someone with simple tastes, nothing could be more satisfying than kodo ko dhindo.

Another
steaming dhindo dish prepared with buckwheat flour (phaapar ko pitho). It is served with a flavorful array of side dishes
in small bowls (kachura). They include starting from the back to the front: black gram daal (jhaaneko kaalo maas ko daal), goat curry (khasi ko
ledo), fish curry (maachaa ko jhol), cauliflower & peas vegetable
(kauli re kerau ko tarkaari), mustard greens(rayo ko saag), and pickled radish. The warm clarified butter (ghue) is
lightly browned with chopped garlic before pouring in the prepared dhindo to give an extra
flavor.

Photo courtesy - Poonam Shah Gautam

... Coarsely ground cornmeal on the left is preferable to finely ground cornmeal on the right. The Nepalese corn flour is much finer called Makai ko Pitho compared to cornmeal available here, which is a little coarse and grainy. The following dhindo is prepared from Bob's Red Mill Organic Polenta, Corn Grits ... my basic cooking procedure for making authentic dhindo - 4 cups of water plus some more, if needed, 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste, 1 cup cornmeal (coarse or medium-ground), 2 tablespoons clarified butter (gheu)...

... Bring 4 cups of water and the salt to boil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over high heat ...

... Once the water comes to a full boil, stir in the cornflower in a slow, steady stream with the left hand, while mixing vigorously and constantly with the right hand.

Mix well until well-combined, making sure there are no lumps in the mix. Constant stirring will avoid any lumps. This process is called बेस्करी ढिडोँ मस्काउने(beskari dhindo maskaaune)in local terms, means vigorously stirring and turning the thickening mixture.

Reduce the heat to medium-low and continue stirring until dhindo thicken, and the mixture has lost its grainy texture.

Be careful the mixture pops and spatters and the bubble can burn the tender skin. Dhindo is ready when the porridge starts separating from the side of the pan. The mixture should be moist, neither runny, nor dry.

Taste our traditional Nepali dhindo set - a perfect introduction of Nepali cuisine - corn flour dhindo (makai ko dhindo) served with (farleft in a bowl) chicken with gravy (kukhuraa ko maasu ko suruwaa) - featuring local chicken raised in the farm, and (front) - sprouted 8-bean soup (kwanti) in a bowl. In the brass thaal served with the steaming dhindo - tender mustard greens(raayo ko saag), stir-fried cabbage (banda-govi ko tarkaari), plain yogurt, fiery tomato chutney (piro golbheda ko achar) and few slices of cucumber and daikon radish. When it comes to Nepali food, you will have to say good bye to your fork and spoon. Be authentic and use your right hand to enjoy the meal.

From my daughter's kitchen - if you have a lot of leftover dhindo, pour the remaining mush into a plate and smooth it out. If you allow the dhindo to set, it will start to thicken and solidify. You can cut into square or rectangular pieces, then fry in butter, or top with cheese, or add any other flavorings or sauce and serve.

Capturing the image of food sign (hand-written) - on the road between Namobuddha Monastry and Dhulikhel, Nepal - Featured on the Menu are offering of home-made Nepali authentic food made to order - Buckwheat Dhindo, Gundruk pickle, Nettle greens, Daal, Cornmeal Dhindo - will make according to order - Bada No. 9, Pipal ko Bot area - I wanted to check out this place and peeked inside the small house across the road. I found a small village kitchen with wood-burning clay stove (chulo), empty pantrywith no owner or customers.

Tasting regional flavor of dhindoin the local restaurant called "Pate Dhido"- The kitchen staff starts preparing dhindo immediately after they receive the order from you. I smelled the dhindo being cooked in their kitchen from my table only few feet away. I quickly got up and requested the cook to let me watch his method. It was being cooked in a centuries-year-old way by using a copper pot and a wooden spoon.

If
you are looking for an authentic dhindo meal place outside Kathmandu,
head to this place called "Pate Dhindo" restaurant, Thumsi - a popular stop for the passing travelers, located near the
busy neighborhood of Narayan Ghat-Bharatpur-Chitwan area. Don't be
fooled by the rugged exterior of this place, the sign is all faded
and needs to refinish but the inside is clean and welcoming.

After vigorous stirring the mixture in the copper pot, the fatfateecook (chatterbox-फतफते) looked at me and told me, "look you can't avoid the messy splatters when you are stirring the mixture (ढिडोँ लाई मस्काउदा).The buckwheat and the millet dhindo is also pretty much cooked the same way except the color of the finished dish will be a little different. The taste of dhindo is usually bland, so it is always eaten with spicy liquids.....oops..the dhindo is ready now"... and he poured the steaming mush in a brass plate.

Shelves full of Nepali bhaadaa-kudaa (Nepali utensils) line the wall at the cozy restaurant.

Serving dhindo in a brass plate - traditionally
Nepali meals are served on a thaal-kachaura.
A number of small bowls, known as kachaura,
are placed on a round tray. Meat, vegetables, and daals
are placed in the bowl, while rice, bread and dhindo are placed
directly on the middle of the tray. This way the rice or dhindo does
not get mixed up with other dishes and lets you sample each
individual dish separately.

We
were presented with a traditional thaal of dhindo made with makai ko
pitho (corn meal) – I did not know the freshly cooked steaming dhindo could be so good. I
enjoyed every bite – served in simple natural
form. Thanks to the freshest locally grown raayo ko saag (mustard greens) sauteed with dried red chilies, and the local chicken with spring onions. The
pickle platter consisted of fiery tomato chutney and khaadeko mula ko achaar (pickled radish).

Picture of the most satisfying phaapar ko dhindo, (buckwheat) I ever ate at Pokhara Thakali restaurant. What better way to get a taste of Nepal!

Here are some of the informative links about Dhindo that you will enjoy reading -

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All information on the Taste of Nepal blog are restricted use under
copyright law. You may not re-use words, stories, photographs, or other
posted material without the explicit written consent and proper credit
to Jyoti Pathak. If you would like to use any materials here, please
contact me.

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Maadaa is a chewy fruit leather or fruit rolls-ups made out
of fresh fruits. The traditional way of making fruit leather is by first boiling the
fruits, then mix with sweetener or seasonings, mashing until very smooth. It is then poured into flat tray and set out in
the direct sun for drying for several days. Maadaa is ready when the fruit
is fully dried and all the moisture have evaporated. It will have a
leather-like appearance and chewy texture. They are removed from the
tray, cut into bite-size pieces or simply rolled up into strips and
stored in an air-tight container or in a plastic bags. It is eaten any
time of the day as a snack.
Making fruit leather is an ancient method of preserving fruits
when there is an abundance of fruits in the season. In Nepal, during
the summer months at our house, making fruit leather was a family affair. My
mother and her kitchen helpers were busy making several batches of fruit
leather when perfectly tree-ripened fruits with full flavor were in season.
Some of the fruits came from our own fruit trees, such as persimmons,
mangoes,
pear and guavas, but the doko (basket) full of Lapsi fruit (hog plum) were bought
from the villager who transported the fruit to Nepali markets from
their nearby hilly farms. As soon as the fruits were picked or bought,
the
kitchen helpers prepared the fruits by sorting, rinsing,
boiling, mixing with spices or sweetener and mashing to make a smooth
puree. It was then poured into wicker flat tray (nanglo). The tray was
covered with cheese cloth or nylon netting, and secured with a cloth pin
to protect the pureed fruits from insects and dirt. Several trays were placed in the sunny part of the house, usually in the Kausi
area (open space in the uppermost part of the house) for them to sun-dry. It would take several days for the fruit leather to be dried
depending upon the intense of sun. The fruit drying trays were always
brought back inside when the sun was set in the evening. Sometimes, by
the end of drying process, my cousins and younger siblings slowly peeled and tore the fruit leather
from the drying
tray and enjoyed it so much that almost half of the fruit leather were
disappeared before it was ready to be cut and stored. We were addicted
to this delicious special treat.

There is no set recipe for making
fruit leather, it all depends upon the specific fruit you are using and
what kind of flavor you want to add. Lapsi (Nepalese
hog plum) is a very sour fruit, so a sweetener and spices are always
added. The peak season fruits were naturally sweet, so my mother did not add any sweetener.
The most common maadaa were made out of lapsi
fruits, guava, mango, persimmons and pear. Lapsi ko Maadaa is a great
favorite fruit leather for many Nepalese, and if someone is visiting the country back home, they always
brought back several packages of store-bought lapsi chew. This all brings
back a lot of memories growing up in Nepal and I have been making
several
batches of fruit roll-up for the past many years here in the United States. I make at least 15
batches of different variety of maadaa (some mixed fruits combination)
every summer to share with
friends and family. I dry my fruit roll-ups in the food dehydrator
because the sun is not very reliable in the area where I live. Here is my step-by-step guide for making peach fruit leather. I have
been using all different kind of fruits that are in season such as peaches, pear,
apricots, strawberries, cherries, raspberries, apple and concord grapes. In some fruit leather shown in the picture below, I have combined several different fruits to give a delicious twist. The combination is limitless. Fruits that are fully ripe makes the best fruit leather. Now I want to share it with my blog
readers.

... joy of picking tree-ripened and aromatic peaches from the garden ...

... separating bruised and over-ripped fruits ...

... washing and removing stems and taking out the pits ...

... pits are headed to the compost piles ...

... placing the fruit in a large and heavy bottomed saucepan...no need to add any water, once the peaches have softened the fruit will give away juice, making it soft and mushy ...

... cover the pot and bring it to a simmer on a low heat for 10-20 minutes. Stir occasionally to make sure nothing is sticking at the bottom of the pot...

... the peaches have softened quite a bit...

... continue to simmer until the fruit is completely cooked. Taste to see if the fruit needs any sweetener...I usually do not add any sweetener and prefer to leave it natural ...

... now run through the hand-held blender to make a very smooth puree...

... make sure the puree is in the right consistency, should be pourable and thick enough to stay where you have spread the mixture....if too thin and runny, bring back to the stove top and cook uncovered until slightly thickened.... now the peach puree is ready to be poured ...

... pour the fruit puree onto the food dehydrator tray slowly - allow about half inch space in the inside and outside edges of the tray. The edges tend to dry more quickly, the poured puree should be a little thicker than the center part. When spreading the fruit puree, gently tilt and shake the tray to distribute the mixture more evenly. If you like thick fruit leather, pour about 1-1/2 to 2 cups extra mixture in the tray.

... now all the trays are stacked up on top of each other and ready to close the lid .... the dehydrating times may vary, depending on the types of fruit used and the thickness of the mixture that is poured into the tray. Dry at 130-140 degree F - and follow the manufacturer's instruction.

... patiently waiting for the fruit leather to be ready and my whole house is smelling so good while the peach puree is being dried....

... the fruit leather is ready, no longer sticky and has a smooth surface ...

... peeling easily from the dehydrator tray....finished consistency should be pliable and easy to roll

... enjoy the most delicious aaru ko maadaa ...

... storage - to shore the finished fruit leather, roll them up and wrap tightly with plastic wrap or wax paper, tie with a string to hold the roll ...

... cut into desired size pieces, if you like, and store in an airtight and moisture proof containers ...

... getting ready to make cinnamon-cardamom flavored fruit leather - peel the pear, remove the cores and stems, cut into pieces, mix with spices, add sweetener, if needed and simmer. Spread the puree over the tray and dry the fruit mixture until pliable...

...All natural and delicious pear fruit leather, flavor of pear is bursting in every bite!

Lapsi ko Maadaa - लप्सी को माडा - (Nepalese Hog Plum Fruit Leather) - is one of the most
favorite fruit chews made from the Nepali native fruit, lapsi, or labsi. The fruit is greenish-yellow in color when
ripe, and has a large hard seed that is almost the size of the whole
fruit itself. The plum-sized fruit has a pleasant flavor, but extremely
sour, even when it is completely ripe. The pulp is firmly attached
around the seed and difficult to separate, so it must be boiled first.
The pulp is mixed with sugar and spices, made into fruit
leather or nuggets and sun-dried. Lapsi fruits are only available in Nepal, or at
least I have never seen the fruits in the United States. For more information on this fruit, please click here to check my previous blog.

I have been making fruit leather for nearly 30-35 years every summer or fall, and my children have been enjoying the the natural fruit snacks. When they were growing up, fruit maadaa was their "candy."....so you want to make your favorite fruit snacks at home without any effort? I hope the basic instructions on this posting is useful - please let me know if you try!

Copyright Information

All information on the Taste of Nepal blog are restricted use under
copyright law. You may not re-use words, stories, photographs, or other
posted material without the explicit written consent and proper credit
to Jyoti Pathak. If you would like to use any materials here, please
contact me.

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Copyright Information

All information on the Taste of Nepal blog are restricted use under copyright law. You may not re-use words, stories, photographs, or other posted material without the explicit written consent and proper credit to Jyoti Pathak. If you would like to use any materials here, please contact me.